Stone Age

American  

noun

1. the period in the history of humankind, preceding the Bronze Age and the Iron Age, and marked by the use of stone implements and weapons: subdivided into the Paleolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic periods.

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Stone Age British  

noun

1. a period in human culture identified by the use of stone implements and usually divided into the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic stages

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1. (sometimes not capitals) of or relating to this period

   stone-age man

Stone Age Scientific  

1. The earliest known period of human culture, marked by the use of stone tools.

2. See Mesolithic Neolithic Paleolithic See Note at Three Age system

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Stone Age Cultural  

1. A period encompassing all of human history, perhaps several million years, before the Bronze Age. In the Stone Age, people learned to make and use stone tools and weapons.

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Etymology

Origin of Stone Age

First recorded in 1860–65

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Stone Age

The Stone Age characters say things such as “Omygod” and “Wow, that’s pretty ballsy.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026

These periods span parts of the Stone Age and early metalworking eras, thousands of years before modern civilization.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 5, 2026

"Why is no-one standing up to him? He's really taking us back to the Stone Age."

From BBC ● Apr. 3, 2026

He observes that “geology is the beginning of technology,” which explains our use of phrases such as the Stone Age and the Bronze Age and, in the future, he believes, our current Sand Age.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 25, 2026

The art of the Old Stone Age in Europe as we know it today marks the highest achievements of a way of life that began to decline soon after.

From "History of Art, Volume 1" by H.W. Janson